Of course we were distraught to give up the fabulous comfort of our mini campervan but Auckland was calling us for the first leg of our North Island adventure. As in Sydney we had the massive benefit of knowing some locals namely my good friend from school Andrew, his lovely wife Gina and a young lady we were to meet for the first time - Sadie, aged 2. Once Gina had fought her way through rush hour traffic to pick us up and Andrew returned from work we started to catch up in the most British way possible over fish & chips and beer on the beach at Mission Bay.

I could easily pass the remainder of the blog telling you about catching up, chatting with Andrew and Gina, playing with Sadie and generally having a great time but I know you will want some activity details so here goes. Naturally as good hosts the Sinclair's insisted on showing us the sights of Auckland when our natural impulse was to curl up and sleep for two days after our South Island campervan mania. One nights sleep on a comfortable bed set us up for a big tour the next day and we immediately climbed the highest things we could see, the Sky Tower and Mount Eden to get our bearings and plan our Auckland experience. Unfortunately while up the Sky Tower Andrew was seized with the desire to do the Sky Walk and I foolishly agreed.

So it is now 10:15 the following morning and Andrew and I are nervously waiting at the bottom of the Sky Tower while the ladies were sensibly absenting themselves at the waxing shop and the kiddie play area. By 10:45 we were in bright orange jumpsuits walking on a 1m wide platform around the Sky Tower 192m up with no handrails. To make it even worse the girl showing us round had us lean over the edge supported only by the guide rope and walk over a 20cm wide glass beam while looking straight down. Of course Andrew and I were amazingly brave and only yelped embarrassingly a couple of times but the ladies had a cold beer each waiting at the bottom so all was well. That evening we made our way to Auckland Zoo with a big picnic for a Hollie Smith concert (like Joss Stone could have been if she hadn't sold out) and meandered our way happily back to Chez Sinclair for another big sleep.

The remainder of the time in Auckland passed quickly, we accidentally wandered into a gay festival trying to find a play park for Sadie. Completely failed to find a second festival which we did actually want to go to and spent the remaining time playing with Sadie and chatting with the larger Sinclair's until soon enough it was time to go and get our hire car so we could see a bit of the rest of North Island. We were both sad to leave, Gina was absolutely brilliant and Sadie completely adorable but it was fantastic for me to renew a friendship that was withering through sheer distance and remind myself why we were friends in the first place even if at least part of the link is nerdy wizard games. Nice one Andrew - see you in NYC soon with the family.

Love A & R